Customizing Harmonicas! and the secrets of Alan Wilson

Рет қаралды 5,027

Күн бұрын

Today I'm talking about my attempts to customize harmonicas as a beginner. I recently took an old Hohner Marine Band 1896 and started doing all kinds of work. Hopefully this video inspires someone to start. We also take time to talk about the great Alan Wilson and the secret to his custom tunings. have you ever wondered how he hit that note on the solo to on the road again?

Пікірлер: 56

@dirtypatwalsh 7 ай бұрын

Hey thanks for the shoutout man! I recently customized an old Rocket harp to the Al Wilson “on the road again” tuning. Having some basic harmonica repair skills/tools is a very good thing. Musicians gotta realize that you play the harmonica, the harmonica doesn’t play you. Take them apart and get to know them! Al was my favorite harp player of his era…I like him better than Butterfield. Hooker and heat is a testament to the amazing playing of the Blind Owl. God bless you bud 🙏✝️❤️

@CaptainRon1913 3 ай бұрын

My group of friends back then were heart broken when Alan passed away. Thanks to you young folks for keeping people like Alan's music alive. You're awesome, keep up the great work

@vancegodin4149 2 ай бұрын

the owl was the man... you are doing fine, keep on learning.... make tools, buy them if you have to......

@RockessentialTim 4 ай бұрын

I love this! I recently did a vid about Wilson and one of the things I was wondering about concerning his playing was did he think things out or was it all spur of the moment feel? I tend to think it was well thought out and I think you have verified that somewhat. I knew he did a custom tuning but I didn't know exactly what that meant, so thanks again for showing us!

@andytate5670 Ай бұрын

I used to use paper😂 but I recently bought the East Top repair kit it's been a revelation, I've tuned 8 harps thus far and saved two from the harmonica grave yard. I definitely want to learn how to customize harps. I love canned heat too, always in the shadow of the Brit blues bands but I think Canned heat are a vastly underrated band. And yes Alan was one of the first white boy harp players and to me he was one of the best

@AdamWestUS 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for putting this information out there so other people can learn from your mistake!

@thomasboogie734 2 ай бұрын

Alan's playing inspired me to play harp, I believe him to be the best harmonica player I've ever heard, I've never tried to re- tune my harps as the Special Twenties are going about $50 + and I can't afford to take a chance on fuckin' them up. However, your idea about using cheap- o harps to experiment with re- tuning. I'd like to suggest the Fender line of harmonicas which run around 7 bucks and are not bad harps. And your harp distortion device is totally butt kickin'! Great playing!

@ShreddyKrueger14 2 ай бұрын

Damn bro you can shred on that bad boy 🔥

@jessegood7744 4 ай бұрын

Good stuff man, alan has kept the blues alive 🙌🙌

@antoniopetroff979 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for the info. Keep them coming

@31416 7 ай бұрын

I just aquired the Honey Pot fuzz, cause of your tone. Never would have I bought a fuzz otherwise. It did not disapoint! The tone control makes it useable for harmonica. Very much so. Thank you! 🙏

@formansbasement2311 7 ай бұрын

Hey thank you bro! I never thought to use it but I had all these pedals from when I used to play guitar and you're right the fuzz is awesome! Mess with the settings a bit and you have the perfect hard sound

@hotcitytape 3 ай бұрын

Awesome tone 🙏🪷🥇🚀🍻

@pumpkinking5174 4 ай бұрын

John Lee Hooker said Alan Wilson was the best harp player he every heard. I quite agree.

@youngrellblues 6 ай бұрын

Very nice bro! But one thing I will say is do not use an engraver it’s too rough on the reeds use an actual reed scraper!

@jimmeltonbradley1497 2 ай бұрын

I now realise why I could never play the Blind Owl's solo on On the Road Again. I've been playing since the late 60s and never thought to customise. I keep the reeds working by dropping them in whisky occasionally, but that's all. Al Wilson's playing is, in my view, far superior to that of Paul Butterfield.

@cyberprimate 6 ай бұрын

I heard this in 2017. Never tried it. "I met Alan Wilson back in the day and he told me a little trick about buying the little white chromatic harmonica tabs from Hohner and gluing them on the upper register to get the bend on the draw. Some guys say you could overblow the 6 to try for that note on 'On the Road again', ala Howard Levy, but not really. Just glue a tab on your upper register."

@friedrich1957 4 ай бұрын

For the marine band, may I suggest, if you use a toothpick and glue, the hole will "shrink".

@formansbasement2311 4 ай бұрын

This is an excellent piece of advice. Thank you for sharing

@calescapee9642 2 ай бұрын

I`ve got a 1957 supro amp that I want to use for harp. i also have some ancient shure mics. I wonder how an Astatic D 104 would sound.?

@thomasboogie734 2 ай бұрын

Those old Supro amps are smokers! I've got a couple Silvertone amps I use to play the Blues on harp, though my speaker cabinets are about shot to shit. I picked up a Fender Champ 50 XL modeling amp and I get some amazing sounds from that puppy!

@jonbeckleymorrisblues 8 ай бұрын

I just want to repair alot of old Marine Band 1896's!. Catch this later looks great!

@paulcook68 8 ай бұрын

Hey Seldom seen slim! Hope all is well Jon..

@jonbeckleymorrisblues 8 ай бұрын

@@paulcook68 Hanging in there Paul. Hope yku is too.

@dirtypatwalsh 7 ай бұрын

Hey fellas!

@paulcook68 7 ай бұрын

@@dirtypatwalsh Hey Dirty 👋

@dennisrocker 6 ай бұрын

Yep , love that canned heat song. I keep it ready to start playing when ever I'm expecting some newbys to drop by. I wait for them to start introducing their selves and then with a remote in my pocket I start easing up the volume to height that makes the buttons on your shirt tickle your chest.lol They are just talking heads for me, until the fact hits them and they start to pipe down, then I throw in one of my portastudio made E-A original instrumentals and sandwich it with some old Peter Green songs. If they're still there ,I turn the volume down to modest level so that I can easily orchestrate any needed conversation. Many times, they will say 'wow' who wAs that ? I answer asking ' which one: they say all of em man. I reply Canned Heat & myself. Lol . Ya see, at 69 I've learned how to get a compliment. Lol . Thank you for sharing. I had no idea how he got that note. You will be adorned with many good things for putting forth the efforts to share what you've learned and your youth gives you lots of time to enjoy them. Peace/ Dennis Fayette Ga.

@philr5497 Ай бұрын

Get a full set of Kongshing AMAZING 20s. Decent S20 clone for 20 bucks!

@clinthoadley 6 ай бұрын

Cool channel brother 😎

@urbantone 2 ай бұрын

Use a small arkansas shaving stone instead of rotary tool

@calescapee9642 2 ай бұрын

I believe you get special files to tune reeds

@formansbasement2311 2 ай бұрын

@@calescapee9642 I bought one but it didn’t work as well or easily as the engraver

@ikust007 7 ай бұрын

Damn I missed this one… notifications not on 😢

@paulcook68 8 ай бұрын

I've trashed a couple harps trying to customize too.. lol

@primepreowned1 4 ай бұрын

I like Golden Melodies myself, but they’ve gotten so pricey I go through harps quickly I guess I play to hard

@formansbasement2311 4 ай бұрын

I used to like golden melody’s before they switched up the design. The new golden melodies I have no interest in

@primepreowned1 4 ай бұрын

I haven’t tried the new one, but I don’t like the looks of it. I just bought a set of East Tops professional models that are a closed harp. That was a waste of money. I have so meany Golden Melody harps that’s blown out, I guess I’m going to see if I can get them fixed. The old Melodies are the one I really like. I’m more of a single note player and the intonation or temperance on those are pretty good for that

@Andf-kc4xx 7 ай бұрын

finallly back to normalcy and sanity. Happy for you, kid.

@formansbasement2311 7 ай бұрын

Oh, not even close. Life is torture and it's getting worse

@josephsullivan1760 7 ай бұрын

Believe me as a 68 year old man who has been through it all . Be strong and refuse to let it get bad and it will get better sooner than later. Good Luck.

@AdamWestUS 5 ай бұрын

Alternate take was cool! kzbin.info/www/bejne/inPYh4Sdqt6DjLssi=OjDAFaCZOWsN1wEg

@oscardarrell 8 ай бұрын

Hello, well i am a very beginner. The reason why i play is somehow i heard Little John Chrisley's "The Way It Goes"..i then bought key of G harmonica and tried to play the riff, but i failed. Is it on harmonica G? Or maybe Little John modified his harmonica??

@michaelchase3083 7 ай бұрын

Hey Oscar, I believe the song you are trying to play is in the key of E. Try playing it with an A harmonica in second position and see if that works better for you.

@pnkhouse.albosniaski 4 ай бұрын

Grande gimmorison

@formansbasement2311 4 ай бұрын

Muchas gracias amigo! ✌️

@ikust007 6 ай бұрын

I am strong in Red Devils …

@bldg8985 2 ай бұрын

What mic are you using?

@formansbasement2311 2 ай бұрын

@@bldg8985 hohner harp blaster HB-52

@bldg8985 2 ай бұрын

@@formansbasement2311 Thank you so much! The video was very interesting, btw.

@lonehoot1566 5 ай бұрын

Yo man ..do you teach,newbie here?

@formansbasement2311 5 ай бұрын

Sure, what do you want to know?

@vancegodin4149 2 ай бұрын

you are allowed to wreck shit in the name of science! i.e. some things serve better as 'gross anatomy.' I enjoy your thoughts..... let's work together, my man. the HEAT rules!